Joseph Seed vs Vladimir Makarov
by ColdCupoJoe
Summary: Hey everyone! Welcome to the 20th addition to my battle series, this time pitting two of the most hated villains in first person shooter games in Joseph Seed versus Makarov! This narratively takes Makarov from his appearance in MW2 and Seed from his appearance in Far Cry 5. Hopefully I got all characterizations correct and y'all enjoy!


Joseph Seed vs Makarov

"All warfare is based on deception. The bigger the lie, the more likely people will believe it, and when a nation cries for vengeance, the lie spreads like a wildfire. The fire builds, devouring everything in its path. Our enemies believe that they alone dictate the course of history, but all it takes is the will of a single man." -Vladimir Makarov

The ambulance rolled down the uneven ground of the Montana countryside, jostling its passengers in the back. The driver was a pale, muscled man, a tattooed falcon crawling up the back of his neck. He glanced behind him into the holding area of the ambulance, not holding a gurney but three heavily armed soldiers.

The soldiers bounced in silence, light machine guns resting in their laps. Two of them wore navy blue shirts with light machine guns in their laps, the third with olive drab and an assault rifle. All of the soldiers had black tactical bulletproof vests, collar reaching up to protect their necks. The soldiers all seemed lost in their own thoughts besides the man in olive drab, a permanent scowl burned into his face. His brow frozen in anger above his heterochromatic eyes, accentuating his slight widow's peak of black short hair.

"С нами бог," the lead man in olive said in Russian above the rustling of the ambulance, to which his men nodded solemnly. Makarov looked out the back of the van, seeing the mountains paint a jagged line on the horizon. Now that he was in America, he could feel his blood boil. He had planned for this moment for months; false leads across the African continent, dirty bombs in Europe, all a false front to lure attention away as he made his move.

Out the back window more civilization began to pop up, first a car on the side of the road, then a bridge, until they began to roll through a small settlement with buildings lining the dirt road. There were civilians wrapped in tattered rags and eggshell-colored robes outside, looking in confusion as the ambulance rolled through their complex. Most of the civilians held weapons, from pitchforks to lead pipes to small guns. Makarov took note of this as they rolled through, patting his chest to ensure he had enough bullets for every one of them.

The ambulance rolled to a stop outside of a white church, plain other than the ornate door piece.

"We've arrived," the driver said through a thick Russian accent, reaching into the passenger floorboards to retrieve a drum-barreled shotgun.

"Right, check your weapons and ammo," Makarov stated, pulling the magazine from his rifle to check the bullets before placing it right back in.

"I've waited a long time for this," one of the other men said, peering out the back of the car to see a growing horde of civilians.

"Haven't we all," Makarov replied, standing. The rest of the men stood as well, stacking up against the back door as the driver laid his hands on his door handle.

"Go my brothers," Makarov said, tapping the shoulder of the man in front of him. "For Zakhaev."

"Something is coming. You can feel it, can't you? That we are creeping toward the edge… and there will be a reckoning. That is why we started The Project. Because we know what happens next. They will come. They will try to take from us. Take our guns, take our freedom. Take our faith. We will not let them. We will not let their greed, or their immorality, or their depravity hurt us anymore! There will be no more suffering!"

Joseph Seed, a tall man in his forties, stood shirtless in front of his convent, a half-dozen men and women praying and raising their hands in praise. Across his chest was a tattoo of a mangled tree, the roots of which bore the name of his project, Eden. His torso was scarred and defiled, with the words Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, and Sloth jaggedly carved into his flesh. His shrewd eyes were covered by yellow-tinted aviator glasses, tucked into his slicked back brown hair tied up into a small bun.

The man stood, arms outstretched in front of a hanging American flag, the same star cross painted in white on the flag's stars. He basked in the glory of his project, his eyes closed as he heard the chanting from outside. He had planned for when the government would send their false shepherds for him. This would allow him to continue the reaping of Hope County and more, God had told him so. It was all going according to plan.

Gunshots erupted from outside, bullets began tearing through the church and splintering the pews, catching several of the inhabitants and spraying blood over the holy ground. Joseph ducked for cover behind a pew and grabbed an assault rifle on the ground as the bullets whizzed through the air, looking side to side for allies. He saw still in the front of the church lay his adopted daughter Faith and one of his adopted sons, John, eyes blank as their blood stained the white wood. He clenched his teeth and pounded the ground with his fist, rage and sorrow building inside of him.

"Now is not the time," a familiar gruff voice came from behind him. Joseph turned his head to see the last of his remaining heralds, Jacob Seed, followed closely by two Eden cult members in rags. John was a grizzled man with a red scraggly beard, the camouflage army shirt fitting loosely over his stained gray shirt, a pair of dog tags dangling over his chest.

"You're right," Joseph stammered, collecting himself and straightening the glasses on his face. He looked at the two cultists behind Jacob, grabbing one of them by the shoulder, the bullets still buzzing by overhead.

"They are the locusts in my garden," Joseph stared into the cultist's eyes.

"Yes, Father," she nodded, a grin ear to ear as she was enraptured by her leader's aura.

"They've come to take me away from you. They've come to destroy all that we've built! We knew this moment would come. Go with faith, and God will not let them succeed," Joseph brushed the cheek of the cultist, placing his forehead to hers before sending her off. She sighed, grabbing her companion behind her as the two raced through a side door, evading the gunshots.

"That was cute, but we have to get you secure," Jacob snarled, checking the ammunition in his pistol. The gunfire stopped as the doors of the church were kicked open, four silhouettes casting long shadows in front of a car's light. Jacob about popped up with his gun before Joseph put his hand on his shoulder, giving a stern shaking of his head.

"Joseph Seed?" one of the men called out as the soldiers entered the church. The four men walked slowly between the pews, boots crunching glass and wooden splinters.

"God is watching us…" Joseph called back, taking glimpses around the pews to get a view of the attackers. "And He will judge you on what you choose in this moment."

Makarov motioned for his men to split up, two of them breaking off to hug the walls of the church as he and his one other soldier kept in the middle.

"Your convent has failed you," Makarov said, stepping over the bodies of felled cultists. "But you can make it out of here alive. I want the launch codes, Mr. Seed, and you will be allowed to live."

"God will not let you have them," Joseph said, nodding to Jacob as the soldiers got closer. Jacob popped up, firing a flurry of shots with his pistol at Makarov. Makarov ducked behind one of the pews, although his nearby soldier caught a few pistol shots to the chest. The soldier fell, his bulletproof vest taking much of the impact, but still bruising a few ribs underneath.

The flanking soldiers returned fire, their LMG bullets slamming into the hardwood pews. Joseph and Jacob took the brief lapses in gunfire to return shots, feeling the bullets homing in on their location.

Makarov waited patiently behind his pew, glancing over at his soldier still on the ground writhing in pain. His vision drifted toward the door entrance as two figures blocked the incoming light. They were wrapped in white clothes, one a woman with an assault rifle and another a man, a light blue mist clinging close to his head, his eyes burning a bright white, a lead pipe in his hands.

"Eyes behind! We are flanked!" Makarov shouted, pulling up his rifle. He fired three shots, all landing in the torso of the man, but he seemed unphased as he charged into the church. Makarov was initially stunned, but as he raised his rifle again the woman began firing, leading to Makarov tumbling back over the pew to shield himself. The man, blood flowing down his white shirt, jumped onto the downed soldier still in the middle alley of the church. He screamed as he raised his lead pipe into the air, bringing it down repeatedly onto the soldier until his face was a bloody pulp.

One of the soldiers on the side of the church turned to see the demise of his comrade, shouting as he swung his light machine gun around, perforating the drugged-up cultist, a shot to the forehead ultimately putting him down for good. As he was turned, however, Jacob Seed popped up over his cover and unloaded his pistol into the soldier, the bullets burying themselves into his back, spraying blood over the whitewashed walls and putting him down.

"Viktor!" Makarov shouted, seeing his old friend fall. He furiously raised above cover, firing his rifle at the woman in the entrance, quickly putting her down before turning his fire forward. He laid down suppressive fire as his soldier moved up, his LMG shouldered.

The soldier did not make it to his target, however, as Joseph was crouched and waiting. He jumped up and grabbed the soldier's gun, holding it aloft and swinging him around as a body shield between himself and Makarov, a knife up to his neck.

"Sometimes the best thing to do… is to walk away," Joseph Seed muttered, Jacob standing up behind him, his pistol aimed over Joseph's shoulder at the Russian mercenary. Makarov seethed in anger, his finger itching at the trigger of his rifle.

Makarov fired, placing a bullet dead center into his own soldier's face, splattering blood over the cult leader's surprised face, but also getting rid of his leverage. Jacob did not hesitate as he unloaded his pistol at the man, only one shot finding Makarov's shoulder before he ducked behind the pew once more.

"That is your weakness, you do not do what needs to be done to achieve victory." Makarov shouted across the room, examining his shoulder wound. "You are shortsighted, Joseph Seed, and it will be your downfall."

Makarov dug into a vest pocket, pulling out a grenade and tossing it over his cover. The green explosive tumbled across the ground, coming to a stop just in front of the church's podium a few feet away from the Seeds.

"Joseph get down!" Jacob shouted, throwing himself belly down onto the grenade, waving his leader off.

The explosion tore Jacob apart, deafening Joseph as his aviators were blown from his face and he was knocked back into the pews. Makarov dropped his rifle, reaching into his belt and grabbing his pistol, holding his shoulder as he marched over to the downed man.

"God will not let you take me…" Joseph continued to mutter, tears streaming down his face as he saw his opponent approach. "God will not let you take me!"

Makarov reached down, grabbing Joseph by his collar and hoisting him onto his feet, placing his pistol into Seed's cheek.

"Is this who you really are? A pathetic boy hopelessly out of step with the changing world?" Makarov taunted, throwing him back to his knees. "Every man has his weakness, it's only a matter of time until I find yours. You will give me the nuclear launch codes. Russia will take all of America, even if it must stand upon a pile of ashes."

Makarov leaned in close to the cult leader's face, Joseph bowing his head in fear as he could got close enough to smell his breath.

"Hell awaits you," Makarov sneered. "And I will make sure your death takes a long time."

Winner:

Vladimir Makarov

Stay tuned for a Halo/Star Wars crossover battle in the future!


End file.
